


He's Like Honey

by thelonelywriter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Banter, Blow Jobs, Bonding, Bonding Spells, Breaking Up & Making Up, Dark Mark, Dirty Talk, Enemies to Lovers, Face Punching, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Post-War, Rough Kissing, Slow Build, Smut, Spirit Bonds, Time Skips, kind of, tags are a mess as always, there's only a little i promise, this is the most angst ya'll are ever gonna get
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:56:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9709265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelonelywriter/pseuds/thelonelywriter
Summary: There were a lot of things Harry could have expected when it came to coming back to Hogwarts the year after the War. Getting involved in an accidental spirit bond with Draco Malfoy was probably one of the things he really really didn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> oh man.. you guys don't even know. this is a mess, i have to warn you, people always say not to slam your own work but i'm not, i'm just saying, this isn't my favorite work. with that being said!!! i really wanted to write drarry and i wanted to write a spirit bond or some sort of bond thing and i have for like twenty nine years but i never managed to finish one. this happened though!!!! don't ask me how and don't ask me how it got so long but it happened and right in time for valentine's!!! hey!! so yeah, i hope that at least some of you will enjoy this <3

Sometimes things happen with purpose. Then, sometimes things happen with absolutely no purpose at all. And sometimes it’s hard to tell which is what, if this thing did, in fact, have a reason to happen or not. Sometimes only time can tell us if things are or were supposed to happen. Even then, time and time can go on and on and we never actually find out which it was. Or even if it was a mix of both. Sometimes you just have to guess. Sometimes, you shouldn’t bother guessing.

Things like this, things that happen with purpose or no purpose at all, they can range from the absolute worst thing to the absolute best, and then everywhere in between. And then, there are the times when it feels like it’s the absolute worst thing to ever happen in the entire history of things ever happening with absolutely no reason whatsoever. Even though, in all actuality, it’s the complete opposite. Things like this can happen to anyone really, but now, in particular, it’s happening to Harry Potter. 

“This is absolutely all your fault,” Malfoy announced from where him and Harry were heading out of McGonagall’s office. Harry forced a decidedly fake smile and looked over at Draco.

“Thanks, Malfoy, I really needed to hear that again,” he said, trying to keep his tone light. Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes. Harry let out a sigh and looked away from him, shaking his head. Harry had heard that sentence just about a million times ever since the answer to what had happened had been given.

“If you had gotten out of my way, I would have caught the Snitch, and we wouldn’t be in this,” Draco pointed out.

“And then you’d be bonded with someone else?” Harry asked, a flaw in Draco’s logic. The Snitch that they had both caught at the same time out of sheer luck (unluck rather) had been charmed, and that’s what got them in the situation they were in now.

When their hands both closed around the Snitch during a pickup game at practice, a crackle of energy ran through both of them, followed closely by an unerring feeling that neither of them could explain. It was Harry’s idea to take things to McGonagall since something far too strange was going on between both of them and when they tried to part there was a lurching feeling inside Harry that Draco had echoed.

Promptly, they found out the Snitch had been charmed, probably by someone who hoped to be the light of Harry’s life soon since the charm was a bonding spell that would last for, as far as McGonagall could tell, a month.

“At least it wouldn’t be _you_ ,” Draco sneered in response. Harry just rolled his eyes, biting his tongue in hopes of not starting anything with Draco. “I can’t bloody believe I have to be chained to you for a month,” Draco mused, sounding frustrated. Well, Harry actually knew he was frustrated because the bond gave insight into how the other was feeling. Harry himself was frustrated, he knew that, but there was a different emotion, a more foreign kind of irritation coming his way that he knew wasn’t his own. 

That had been another thing McGonagall explained. The bonding spell would have certain effects that would surprise them, but some of them were more simple. The farther apart they were for a longer period of time, it would have adverse effects like headache and nausea, and even worser things. Which was ironic, because Harry already kind of felt like puking at the thought of having to stay fairly close to Draco more often that usual.

Coming back for an Eighth Year at Hogwarts was strange, but it hadn’t been going as badly as Harry thought or imagined it. Everything seemed rather calm and mellow, and feelings and losses from the War lingered, but everything seemed to be getting back to usual by Valentine’s Day, which it currently was. That offered major explanation behind the cursed Snitch. 

When everyone had come back to Hogwarts, Harry had wondered briefly what Draco would be like, how he would behave. He seemed to avoid Harry most of the time, though gave him a few sneers here and there. It wasn’t exactly like they were getting along, but they were seemingly civil to one another at least. The minute the cursed Snitch business began, things had taken a turn and Harry was introduced to that good old Draco who liked to offer biting comments on how horrid Harry’s hair was, or bump into him in the halls. Which, well, he hadn’t done yet, but Harry was anticipating it.

“Can you stop thinking so loudly?” Draco grit out as they made their way down a corridor. Harry was immediately horrified.

“You can hear me?” he asked, alarmed and terrified of the thought of Draco Malfoy having access to his thoughts.

“No, I can’t hear them, but I can feel them. You’re giving me a headache,” Draco told Harry, who was immediately relieved. 

“Oh, well I apologize ever so deeply for thinking,” Harry snarked back. Draco side eyed him with pursed lips. Harry felt some strange surge of irritation transform into a little more, the kind of feeling Harry would usually feel if he was about to clock someone in the face or start something physical. But, the feeling wasn’t his, it was coming from somewhere else.

“Don’t,” Harry simply said. Draco looked over at Harry with a sweet smile.

“Don’t what, Potter?”

“You know,” Harry said simply because Draco obviously knew what he was talking about.

“I actually have no clue what you’re talking about, Potter. You’re making no sense,” Draco went on, looking around idly. Harry felt the feeling inside of him fade a little, and he let out a defeated sigh.

“Do you think this will stop if we keep our distance?” Harry questioned. Draco scoffed.

“You heard what McGonagall said. The farther apart we are the worse we feel physically,” Draco said, a very good point. Harry sighed once more.

“Well, is there some happy medium?”

“Nothing about any of this is happy,” Draco huffed as they headed down a flight of stairs.

“You know what I mean,” Harry said, glancing over at Draco. 

“How should I know?” Draco questioned. “For all I know, it could get worse. The farther apart we get, the stronger the bond tries to get,” Draco proposed, something that made Harry’s stomach lurch. “No use anyways, is it? McGonagall switched out schedules so we have the same classes,” Draco pointed out, which was true. McGonagall had said that it would be easier on them that way if they could be in a closer proximity for the most part. She had told them they could manage sitting at their respective tables and dorms, but other than that, it would be easier if they could stay in a closer vicinity. 

“Suppose you’re right then,” Harry said, tone deflated. Both him and Draco went quiet for a moment, just heading towards the Great Hall where dinner was about to happen. They would be late as it was. Harry took a second to think about how soon the school would probably know that him and Draco had this stupid bond. But, first, he at least had to tell Ron and Hermione. They hadn’t been there for the actual incident itself. And they would definitely be interested to hear about it.

\---

“A bond? Like a spirit bond?” Hermione asked once Harry had sat down with Ron and Hermione for dinner.

“That’s what McGonagall said,” Harry told Hermione with a shrug.

“With Malfoy?” Ron questioned, looking slightly disgusted. Harry nodded.

“And how did this happen exactly?” Hermione questioned, leaning her forearms on the table.

“The Snitch was cursed or charmed or whatever you want to say with a spell, some bonding spell. I guess it was meant for me to catch, then whoever had touched it last would be bonded with me. But, since Malfoy and I both touched it at the same time, it got messed up, bonded us instead of whoever originally charmed it in the first place,” Harry explained, picking at his food.

“Couldn’t McGonagall get rid of it?” Ron inquired. Harry shook his head.

“She said it would have to last a month,” Harry told Ron whose eyes bugged out of his head.

“A month?” he asked incredulously.

“I know,” Harry sighed defeatedly.

“And what else did she say about it?” Hermione questioned, glancing between her plate and Harry with a slightly concerned look.

“Well, the farther apart we get from each other, the worse these side effects get. Nausea and dizziness and headaches and things like that. And we’ve got this weird… thing,” Harry waved one hand. “I can kind of feel what he’s feeling and I guess the same with him for me. Then other things will probably appear along the way, but for the most part it’s just the whole needing to be close to one another,” Harry told both Ron and Hermione, glancing up at them.

“How’d you manage to catch the Snitch at the same time?” Ron questioned, eyebrows raised. Harry shook his head.

“I don’t know, honestly. He came up from behind me, I didn’t even see him. I was about to catch it, basically had my hand around it, and then he kind of came up and covered my hand and then…” Harry trailed off and waved his hand some more. Ron let out a little huff of air, almost as if in awe, before turning back to his dinner.

“You know spirit bonds are not to be messed with, Harry,” Hermione warned with an unamused look on.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry sighed, looking back down at his food.

“Breaking one can have serious side effects,” she went on.

“I don’t plan on _breaking it_ , I’m just going to try and avoid Malfoy as much as I can without side effects. Our schedules have already been switched around so that we can stay close to each other in that sense. We can sleep in our own beds and sit at our own tables at least,” Harry went on, picking at his food some more. 

“Can’t believe it’s Malfoy though,” Ron piped up, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, me neither,” Harry huffed. “Of all the people to have a bond with,” he muttered, sneaking a glance over at the Slytherin table where Draco was seemingly in the same mood as Harry, looking rather tired.

“Are they going to investigate on who was behind it originally?” Hermione asked, taking a bite of her own food. Harry nodded.

“McGonagall said they could trace the magic left on the Snitch and go from there. Once they find whoever it was they’ll probably face consequences,” Harry told her. “Doesn’t really matter who it was though, all that matters is I’m stuck with Malfoy of all people for the next month,” Harry sighed, his shoulders dropping down a bit. That was really the last thing he needed this school year. To be stuck with Draco Malfoy for a month.

\---

Harry couldn’t sleep that night. All he did was toss and turn with this terrible feeling of unease inside of him. At first, he figured it was a bad night, he had nights like this where he just couldn’t sleep, but then he realized.

He was pretty far away from Draco, and he could feel a certain sort of fatigue about it, but not the kind of fatigue that lets you sleep. The kind that keeps you awake and restless.

All Harry could do was lie there and think and think and it was rather awful if he did say so himself. Thinking was never a good thing, and he usually tried to prevent it if he could. At least on some level.

He tried to think about something nice at least, but for some reason, probably the fucking bond, he was drawn to the idea of Draco. He tried to deny it for awhile, but it only made things worse. So, finally, he gave in.

Draco Malfoy coming back to Hogwarts was an interesting thing because most everyone in school knew what he had done. It was pretty hard to forget, especially with his name. His name itself was pretty infamous, the Malfoys had been known for dabbling in the Dark Arts, but after the War it was like a major confirmed suspicion. 

Draco had narrowly avoided a sentence for Azkaban. He had been on trial for it, but he got off, something that Harry found he was actually… a little relieved about. Harry knew the things Draco had done, but he didn’t think he necessarily deserved to go to Azkaban for it. Harry also knew that Draco had saved his life at one point. Harry also knew the Harry had saved Draco’s life at another point.

Harry had some lurking feeling that he should be mad or disappointed in Draco like a lot of people were. Some people didn’t bother looking his way anymore. But, for Harry, he couldn’t quite find it in him.

Sure, Draco Malfoy was still a massive prat and a particularly obnoxious arsehole, but Harry never really found it in him to pin Draco down as a bad person. That didn’t mean Harry was going to be relieved about the bond, but it did mean he wasn’t going to be terribly disgusted it was Draco.

Draco Malfoy had been a Death Eater, Draco Malfoy had taken part in the dark side of the War, but Draco Malfoy was not a bad person. Harry had no idea on what grounds he believed this or why on earth he believed this when Draco had tortured Harry for about half of their school years, but nonetheless, he believed it.

It was sort of stupid maybe, but Harry was almost glad that Draco had returned to his old self, to the snarky, bratty Draco Harry had known. Harry had seen him during the War, he had seen him during Sixth Year, and that Draco was bad. That Draco was sad. A sad Draco wasn’t any fun. At least to Harry. That made no sense but it was what Harry knew. It was all he knew.

\---

The next morning, when Harry sat down for breakfast, Ron immediately looked worried, alongside Hermione.

“Did you sleep last night?” Ron questioned as Harry slid into a seat and just shook his head.

“I think I got a few hours.” He yawned. “Maybe,” he mumbled.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Ron asked, not thinking until- “Oh…”

“The bond,” Hermione filled in for him. Harry pointed at Hermione and nodded. “You were too far away from Malfoy,” Hermione added on.

“What, should he sleep in my bed?” Harry joked feebly. 

“Well, if he could sleep closer to you that would be ideal,” Hermione said, placing a piece of toast on her plate.

“No, no,” Harry said, pouring some orange juice. “No,” he finished, shaking his head. Hermione sighed.

“Well, it was the first night, right? So, maybe tonight will be better,” Ron proposed, looking hopefully between Harry and Hermione. Hermione slanted him a look and he raised his hands in mock surrender. “Just thinking out loud,” he mumbled before turning back to his breakfast.

“Ron has a point,” Harry said, glancing over at Ron. “It really was only the first night. And if I spend all day with Malfoy, maybe it will, I don’t know, give the bond some relief or something,” Harry mused, taking a bite of toast.

“We can hope,” Hermione sighed. “Spirit bonds are very demanding, Harry,” she went on.

“Is there backlash if I punch him at any point?” Harry asked thoughtfully, going for a sip of orange juice.

“Well, actually, that might help. Any form of physical contact would probably loosen things up and give you a little leeway,” Hermione offered.

“So I can punch him,” Harry said, feeling a little more cheerful at the thought of getting to do so.

“Well, no, but if you did, the bond might ask for more physical contact and things could, um, spiral…” Hermione trailed off. Harry took a second, thinking it over, and then in a sleep hazed brain he realized what Hermione was saying. His eyes widened.

“Oh my God, no, no,” he choked out. “I would absolutely never, no, absolutely not,” Harry went on, shaking his head.

“I never suggested,” Hermione began before sighing. “I’m just saying, spirit bonds can also err on a physical touch side as well, that’s what the closeness hints at. So, if you touch Malfoy, something might happen,” she explained.

“No, not touching Malfoy, I won’t even punch him. I am not going anywhere near that, absolutely not,” Harry went on. “I’ll just keep close to him. That’s all. I won’t even look at him,” Harry assured Hermione, who just shook her head and sighed.

“I suppose that will work just as long as you two stay close together,” Hermione told Harry who grumbled before taking another bite of toast. Harry could only imagine the day ahead. A whole day dedicated to staying close to Malfoy. Wonderful.

\---

After breakfast, Harry’s first class was Charms, therefore Draco’s first class was Charms, therefore, when they got in the classroom, Harry sat down, and Draco immediately plopped down next to him. Draco usually never sat next to Harry in, well, anything really. Harry was about to complain, to tell Draco to sit somewhere a row over instead of next to him. Then Harry was reminded of the awful sleep he had and figured maybe the closer to Draco he was all day, the more he could charge the bond or something like that, and the more sleep he could get the upcoming night.

There was an awkward silence between both of them for the first minute they got their things together, but Harry eventually spoke up once he felt a feeling wash over him.

“You didn’t sleep last night,” Harry pointed out, something that was already obvious to pretty much anyone. He felt some sort of fatigue inside of him that wasn’t entirely his, something that felt worn out and vaguely like what he was feeling, just not coming from him.

“You ought to be an Auror one day, Potter,” Draco sighed as he pulled out some parchment. “Your detective skills are spot on,” Draco added on for good measure. Harry immediately felt that oh so wonderful annoyance that always seemed to come with Draco Malfoy being in his vicinity.

“Yeah, well I didn’t sleep well too for your information,” Harry told him, unrolling a scroll of his own parchment. 

“You missed me too much,” Draco said, glancing over at Harry. Harry caught his eye. Something in Draco faltered, and something in Harry panged. Harry was about to look into that more, but Draco didn’t miss a beat. “How endearing,” he said calmly, smiling over at Harry before looking back down at his own things. 

“If you could stop being an arse for maybe like, a day, I think that might help things along,” Harry suggested, trying not to let Draco get to him, something that he was and always had been pretty bad at.

“If I could get through a day with you by my side without hexing you, that would help things along,” Draco said, not even glancing at Harry.

“If you do anything to me you’ll probably feel it too,” Harry pointed out quite truthfully. Draco let out a huff of air.

“Okay, then maybe you could try not to be a prat, and then we won’t have to go there,” Draco suggested.

“Me?” Harry inquired, raising an eyebrow. Draco looked over at him and raised an eyebrow in return.

“Yes,” he replied slowly. Harry was about to open his mouth when Flitwick started the class and he was cut off. Draco looked unbearably smug and Harry let out a frustrated sigh as they both turned to their own things.

\---

After Charms was over, Harry and Draco both packed their things up with fairly minimal awkwardness. Harry was the last to get his things together, and was also a little confused when he straightened up and Draco was by his side, standing there as if he were… waiting.

“What are you doing?” Harry questioned slowly and cautiously as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Draco looked over at him, and they caught eye contact. For another second, there was the same strange spark from earlier, some odd, tumbling feeling inside of Harry. Draco raised an eyebrow.

“Waiting for you to hurry up,” Draco simply said before turning his head again, looking anywhere but Harry. Harry slowly headed out of the classroom and Draco followed, something that was rather unnerving to Harry. 

“What, so you’re going to walk with me? To class?” Harry inquired slightly incredulous. Harry could feel Draco roll his eyes without even looking at him.

“What else am I supposed to do?” Draco asked as if the question bored him. Harry opened his mouth, then shut it. “I figure the longer I’m with you, the more the bond will be happy, then the more sleep I can get,” Draco told Harry, walking a little faster than usual, causing Harry to have to awkwardly walk faster.

“Well, that’s what I thought too,” Harry agreed.

“Guess we’re on the same page then,” Draco told Harry. They went silent for a moment, long enough for Harry to wonder if it would work, if it would even make sense for them to try and be with each other as long as they could. What if they had to take drastic measures? What if they had to sleep in the same room? Would they have to do that for the whole entire month? Would it be a regular thing, Draco just coming by and-

“Can you shut up?” Draco asked as Harry felt a feeling of aggravation, _Draco’s_ aggravation flow through him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I thinking too loudly again?” Harry asked.

“Yes, in fact, you are,” Draco simply replied, picking up his walking pace to something that had Harry struggling to catch up without looking rather awkward.

“Maybe you could ignore me?” Harry suggested, trying to not respond to Draco’s aggravation.

“I’m trying, trust me, I’m trying, but you are… exceptionally loud,” Draco finally said, sounding exasperated.

“So do you just never think? Is that why I can’t hear you?” Harry asked.

“I keep my thoughts to myself, and I don’t struggle to think. Thoughts come and go quietly, but for you, I have a feeling you have to work for it,” Draco shot back. Harry had half a mind to gape at Draco at the sheer _nerve_ of the bastard but Harry had a feeling that would only make him happier.

“Could you slow down?” Harry ground out after the time for a comeback had come and gone.

“What do you mean?” Draco simply asked. 

“Stop walking so fast,” Harry grit out because at this point their pace was ridiculous.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Draco sniffed, not even looking Harry’s way. “It’s not my fault you can’t keep up, this is my normal pace,” Draco went on, an utter lie that both him and Harry knew.

“No, it’s not,” Harry replied simply.

“Not my fault you’re out of shape. Getting slow in Quidditch I noticed,” Draco went on, keeping his tone leisurely.

“I caught the Snitch before you actually,” Harry scoffed because technically it was true, his hand had been around it first.

“Ah, so you admit it was you who got us in this mess?” Draco immediately proposed. Harry opened and closed his mouth. Leave it to Draco to lead Harry into something like this. Leave it to him to find some fucking loophole.

“Actually, it was you who tried to grab it, then got us into this mess,” Harry corrected. Harry could feel Draco roll his eyes without even looking his way. Harry felt some sort vanquish over Draco, thinking that for once Draco would shut up and accept that Harry was not at fault for this whole entire mess, but then…

“Maybe you could have kept up your latest losing streak, let me catch it, and I could deal with this on my own,” Draco said airly, pointedly looking away from Harry.

“Losing streak?” Harry echoed. Draco looked over at him and gave him a shrug with a slightly raised eyebrow. “I lost one game to Ravenclaw,” Harry stated, trying to think back to his previous matches.

“Losing streak,” Draco just repeated. Harry was then given a strong urge to punch Draco which was never an entirely new feeling. He felt a satisfaction flow through him from Draco’s side.

“Do it. I dare you,” Draco said, glancing over at Harry.

“Do what?” Harry questioned, trying to keep down his aggravation. Draco paused, then smiled sweetly.

“Nothing,” he said, looking back away from Harry. Harry blinked, looked away from Draco, and shook his head. All he could think of was what Hermione said about the bond. _“Well, no, but if you did, the bond might ask for more physical contact and things could, um, spiral…”_

Harry then proceeded to think of Draco telling him to shut up every time he got lost in his thoughts, so Harry tried to make everything passive, tried to let his thoughts come and go without lingering. It was hard to though, especially if he was having to deal with the thought of what would happen if he touched Draco. Would he really want to touch him again? Would things really spiral?

Harry was reminded that this was _Draco Malfoy_ , someone whom Harry had hated for years and years, someone who had hated Harry for years and years. There was absolutely no way Harry would ever want to do something like touch him… right? Obviously they had touched before, they had been in fights that had involved contact but it was never anything like fingers brushing or, or, skin to skin. 

Harry was suddenly realizing how he had never quite thought about this, and he was finding that he wouldn’t mind thinking about it some more. But as they finally made their way to Potions, thankfully in silence, Harry was finding that he probably shouldn’t be thinking about touching Draco in absolutely any sense let alone next to Draco. So he finally shooed away all thoughts as him and Draco sat down at a table.

“Well, this will be interesting. You’re not so good at Potions, right?” Draco asked simply, getting his stuff set up.

“What?” Harry said, slightly lost. 

“Not to worry, Potter. I’m rather good myself, and I’m kind enough to help you out. To an extent,” he went on. Harry blinked then shook his head.

“How charitable of you,” Harry sighed, straightening out his own things. Harry usually had Ron as a partner and Draco usually had Blaise, and that dynamic worked out fairly well for everyone. Potions was a fairly calm class, and Harry was alright at it, it just wasn’t exactly his favorite. With Draco, it was pretty much the opposite. 

Draco and Hermione were usually tied for best student in Potions. Harry usually never paid attention to Draco in class, but he always knew he was there and he always knew he was doing well. It didn’t bother him or anything, but now he was a little interested to see what Draco would be like to work with. Their first class had gone well, thankfully, but now that it was a class that Draco was exceptional in, Harry was wondering if Draco was going to be all uppity about it, or if he was going to be like Hermione whilst he worked, quiet, and calm, and efficient.

As class went along, Harry found out that Draco seemed to mimic Hermione in a way when he worked. He made a jab at Harry here and there, but for the most part he was fairly calm and somewhat polite even. It was interesting to Harry to see that side of Draco. He had never really seen him like that. He had seen him whilst he was working, but in Potions it was different. He didn’t talk much and he didn’t seem too focused on Harry which was sort of a relief.

At one point, they were in the middle of brewing a Pepperup Potion since colds had been going around the school, and Harry could feel unease coming from Draco’s end. Then it transformed into some sort of confusion, and it took Harry a moment to realize it was the sort of feeling you get when you’re looking for something, or thinking about something but can’t put your finger on it. Harry glanced over at Draco, found that he also seemingly looked as though he was searching for something but couldn’t find it. Harry peered into the potion and realized what Draco was probably looking for.

“Here,” Harry said after a minute, handing over some Mandrake root. Draco took it without even looking or saying anything, and Harry felt the feeling inside of him simmer down. Then, Draco straightened up and looked over at Harry.

“Did you… how did you know…?” Draco began, looking slightly inquisitive.

“The bond, I could tell you were looking for something. Just figured that was what it was,” Harry shrugged. Draco blinked before shaking his head and going back to the potion.

“Bloody weird,” he sighed.

“I know,” Harry huffed.

“Thanks anyway,” Draco mumbled, adding the Mandrake to the cauldron. Harry paused.

“Thank you?” he said, repeating Draco. 

“That’s what I said, didn’t I?” Draco replied quietly, going about his business, looking anywhere but Harry. 

“Yeah, no, that’s what you said,” Harry agreed, shaking his head.

“Do you have a problem with that?” Draco questioned. Harry bit back a smirk and shook his head.

“Nope. No problem,” he told Draco, trying to act nonchalant. Things went back to a comfortable silence between them. Then, however, it was Harry’s turn to get irritated since the potion wasn’t turning the proper color and it was a simple potion so Harry had no idea how he had the ability to mess it up.

“Other way,” Draco said out of nowhere.

“What?” Harry asked after a pause in stirring the potion.

“You’re stirring it the wrong way. It’s supposed to be clockwise,” Draco went on, not even glancing Harry’s way. 

“Oh,” Harry said softly before starting to stir the other way.

“You were getting irritated and it’s not the right color. I knew you were doing something wrong,” Draco said, likely feeling Harry’s feelings just the way Harry could feel Draco’s.

“Right,” Harry simply said, thinking of how absolutely strange it was to have Draco able to pick up on these things without even trying necessarily. It was strange because having friends like Ron and Hermione, especially Hermione, they could say these things or pick up on these things, and when they did it made sense. They had known Harry and been through hell with Harry, so these things weren’t odd. But with Draco, Draco whom Harry really barely knew, Draco was now picking up on these things as if it were nothing, all due to the bond. It almost felt like some strange form of violation, even though, Harry wasn’t all too sure he minded it as much as he thought he would.

As Potions went on he thought over the fact and wondered if maybe the bond was just warping his view of things. Maybe the bond would drive him completely mad before a month was over. Eventually, however, once Potions was over and they were packing up their things, Harry was saved from those thoughts as he got his stuff together.

“Well, I suppose you’re not so horrid when it comes to Potions,” Draco sighed as he waited for Harry to pick his bag up and throw it over his shoulder.

“Wow, that almost sounded like a compliment,” Harry joked with a beaming smile. Draco slanted him an unamused look as they began their walk out the door and down a corridor, heading off to lunch.

“Don’t take it as one,” Draco said flatly. Harry nodded.

“Okay,” he sighed, figuring that Draco being somewhat… kind was a good sign. If you could call it that. Draco also decided to keep a normal walking pace in the halls so Harry didn’t have to awkwardly run by his side which Harry chalked up as somewhat of a win. The only problem was that when they got to the Great Hall for lunch, and started to part ways, this feeling of unease washed over Harry as he headed off to the Gryffindor table. He could tell that Draco was having the same feeling once he sat down and glanced over at the Slytherin table where Draco was frowning. 

“Are you okay?” Ron questioned from where he was sitting across from Harry.

“Yeah,” Harry said slowly with a frown, turning back to face Ron and Hermione.

“How’s it going with Malfoy?” Hermione inquired. Harry shook his head and waved a hand.

“He’s an arse, nothing that I didn’t expect. He was calm during Charms and Potions, but in between he’s just… Malfoy,” Harry sighed.

“Well, that sucks,” Ron said, earning a nudge from Hermione. Ron just shrugged and gave her a look. “It does,” he added on.

“It does,” Harry agreed, nodding.

“You might be feeling worse now because the bond has probably gotten used to you and Malfoy being in a vicinity the bond deemed as appropriate. Being taken away from that is probably draining, though, I would suspect, in the long run, it might wear off. Also, as the days go on and you get used to it, you might fall into a rhythm,” Hermione explained. 

“It better wear off,” Harry said flatly. “I only started sleeping better recently, right before this bloody bond. I’d like to get back to that if possible,” Harry went on, going to fill a plate with food.

“Yeah, my sleep’s been shit too,” Ron told Harry with a frown. 

“I think everyone’s has,” Hermione added in. Both Ron and Harry nodded in agreement. It made an awful lot of sense that no one could quite sleep the same as they used to. And with Harry’s awful luck throughout past years, it made sense that that night, he couldn’t sleep again.

\---

Harry wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep that night, unsurprisingly. Over in the Slytherin dorm, Draco tossed and turned just as he and Harry both had the night before.

Draco was pretty much in the same boat as Harry for this whole bond thing. Absolutely unamused by the whole ordeal. Being stuck to Harry Potter for a month was something that Draco could have never imagined, nor did he want to imagine, even though he knew it had to happen for the sake of the bond. 

Harry was the absolute last person Draco wanted to deal with, the last person Draco imagined having to deal with.

When Draco came back to Hogwarts, he expected to keep his head down and not get involved in anything stupid. But, apparently, Harry Potter had a way of getting Draco into stupid things.

Being so close to Harry, feeling some of his feelings, it felt like a sick joke to Draco. Harry was nearly the epitome of the War, he was everyone’s hero. He was the Savior and The Boy Who Lived. And Draco was the one who had played the wrong side in the War. It was like some sour taste in Draco’s mouth to be around someone who was the opposite of him, who was the one everyone loved.

When Draco came back, Pansy and Blaise welcomed him, and some other Slytherins were kind to him, but a lot of people didn’t really pay any attention to him. Seemingly no one wanted a part of Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy seemingly didn’t want a part of himself. But, it wasn’t like he had a choice, did he?

Draco took to minding his own business throughout the whole school year, tried to do anything but hunt Harry down. He thought about it once or twice, thought that maybe bringing back their petty rivalry would help things, or take pressure off things. After thinking about it, however, Draco came to the conclusion that it probably wouldn’t do anything, nor would it change anything. So he didn’t bother. With the bond, however, he figured it might be nice to bring it back, to see what would happen then. Plus, he wasn’t so sure that he could stand just being absolutely polite and civil to Harry the whole time they had to be together. It didn’t help either that Draco could feel Harry’s emotions half the time, and a lot of them were aggravation or irritation, and oh how Draco loved to rile Harry up. Though, he may not admit to it. 

Draco flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling, just listening to his own breathing. He wondered if Harry was having as much trouble sleeping. He wondered what Harry was doing. He wondered how Harry was feeling. With them being so far apart, Draco couldn’t quite feel Harry’s feelings, something that he didn’t mind really. Though, he did mind the whole not sleeping thing. 

He had been pretty sure that with the fact they had spent nearly all day together that he could at least get some sleep. And maybe he would, but for now all he could do was lie there and think and think.

The first day of them being chained together was alright, nothing went too bad, no punches were thrown. Draco found that Harry was different in some ways, but not too different. The War had taken a toll on everyone, especially Harry. And that was perfectly understandable. Draco was just glad, just the slightest, that there was at least a little part of old Harry there. The part that liked to keep up comebacks with Draco and didn’t mind insulting banter. Well, he probably did, Draco felt that Harry had the urge to punch him once or twice, but, other than that, things were alright.

Draco rolled onto his side with a huff of air. He didn’t really know what the bond had in store for them, he knew some of it, of course, but other things were blurred lines. Draco didn’t know much about spirit bonds, but he knew enough. Enough to know that they weren’t really made for people who were arch enemies. It was pretty obvious what the intention behind them was if one was being sent to Harry around Valentine’s Day.

Draco could only hope and pray that things never got to a romantic level. He didn’t want to imagine himself thinking of Harry in that way. He probably could if he tried, but he stopped himself. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he did. He had a bad feeling that if he did…

Draco shook his head and rolled over again. Things wouldn’t get to that point. He wouldn’t let things get to that point.

\---

“You didn’t sleep,” Were the first words that came out of Harry’s mouth the next morning when him and Draco sat down in Charms.

“How on earth did you know?” Draco snarked, pulling out a quill and resisting the urge to slam it down on the table. Harry felt Draco’s irritation and it put him at unease as he turned towards his own things.

“Well, I didn’t either. I thought that I would, what with us spending the day together yesterday but…” Harry trailed off, fiddling with the edge of his parchment.

“Obviously, it didn’t work,” Draco pointed out. Harry let out a defeated sigh.

“Yeah,” he replied simply. 

“It’ll wear off,” Draco said out of nowhere. Harry looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. Draco turned and caught his eye. For some reason, that strange feeling Harry got when they made eye contact the day before came back, but this time stronger. Draco must have felt the same thing because the irritation on his part that Harry was picking up on faltered. Draco firmed his jaw and waved a hand.

“The, the not sleeping. It’ll go away. We just have to wait,” Draco said, turning back away from Harry. Harry just kind of looked at him for a second.

“How do you know?” he questioned.

“I just,” Draco began, his hand flailing some more. “I know, okay? We just keep close to one another during the day and at night we’ll be able to sleep,” he told Harry, though there was doubt in his tone.

“You don’t know anything about spirit bonds,” Harry said simply.

“I know enough,” Draco snapped, thinking that he did, pretty much anyone knew enough about spirit bonds to know where things would be heading.

Harry, on the other hand, was dubious about this because Hermione was pretty much the brightest one at the school, so surely she knew more than Draco. And surely, if there was something she knew that Draco knew too, she would tell Harry. 

Harry just looked over at Draco for a second, and caught the way his bangs fell in front of his eyes. Then the line of his neck. Harry was coming to notice he had a rather nice neck. His skin was pale, really pale. And smooth. It looked very smooth. Pale and smooth and his neck was so slender and, Merlin, his hair was so blonde and-

“What are you looking at?” Draco snapped, not even looking Harry’s way but able to feel Harry’s eyes on him. Harry blinked, then blushed, turning away from Draco quickly. That was odd. That was very odd. That was…

The bond.

Harry coughed and shook his head.

“No, nothing, nothing.”

“Take a picture you idiot, it’ll last longer,” Draco grumbled, throwing his gaze over to Harry. Harry caught it for a second and found that Draco was actually blushing. Just barely, but enough. There was a barely there pink tint to his cheeks.

“What do you, I wasn’t, I wasn’t _staring_ ,” Harry said stupidly because it was important that Draco knew that Harry had not been looking at Draco. Nor had he been admiring his skin, and his neck, and the way his hair fell over his-

“You’re a lot more conspicuous than you think, Potter,” Draco announced, straightening up in his chair. Harry only fought a blush that wanted to rise more to his cheeks.

“Why on earth would I stare at you?” Harry questioned, trying to make his tone biting. Draco just shrugged nonchalantly.

“I am rather handsome, aren’t I?” he replied calmly. Harry just gaped at him for a second because, alright, maybe Draco wasn’t _awful_ looking.

“You’re an absolute tosser is what you are,” Harry shot back, and he immediately felt anger twitch inside of him. Not his, Draco’s.

Draco seemed to pause, then straightened up, smiled, and turned to Harry.

“A handsome tosser, you’ve got to admit,” he said calmly. Harry had to gape at him again because honestly, what kind of comeback did he have for that? 

Harry shook his head, grit his teeth, and turned back to his own things. He grumbled a few things under his breath that Draco couldn’t hear, only feel through the irritation that was coming from Harry through the bond.

“What was that, Potter?” Draco questioned, still smiling. Harry turned to him and smiled just as much.

“Nothing, Malfoy. Nothing,” he repeated before turning away from Draco. Draco let out a sigh and shook his head. Yes, it would definitely be an interesting month having to do this day after day.

\---

It was towards the end of the day when Harry had to seek out Hermione. There were some things that Harry had picked up on during his day with Draco that unnerved him, and he didn’t really want to discuss them at dinner in the middle of the Great Hall. So instead, he found Hermione in the library and pulled her aside into a little alcove near a window that looked out onto the grounds outside where dusk was falling.

“I need to know more about spirit bonds,” Harry told her, keeping his voice down. Hermione took a breath and looked at Harry.

“I’m not an expert, Harry, I don’t know everything,” she replied, and Harry had to roll his eyes. Hermione pretty much knew every fact under the sun so he had no idea how she could say that.

“Just, what you know. I need to know what you know,” he said, trying not to sound desperate. Hermione sighed.

“Well, it all depends on the bond, but for the most part it’s universal that spirit bonds are supposed to bring people together. It’s obvious, it’s in the name. Often they give insight into whoever you’re bonded to,” she began. Harry nodded. “Didn’t McGonagall explain any of this?” she questioned. 

“She did, but she didn’t go into any detail. She held things back I think. I figure you’ll tell me what I need to know,” Harry explained.

“Well, I can’t tell you everything, I don’t have the Snitch, I can’t trace the magic,” Hermione argued. Harry shook his head and waved a dismissive hand.

“I know, I know, but you at least know something right?” Harry asked hopefully. Hermione gave Harry a dubious look before looking away.

“Well, I mean, the spell was meant for you, right? You said it was meant to bond you to whoever last touched it?” 

Harry nodded.

“Well, then they were probably trying for a romantic bond. They probably wanted it to bond you to them in a way that would cause love and cause you to see the good in them and things of the sort,” Hermione told Harry who felt his stomach drop. “It’s near Valentine’s Day, after all, you’ve gotten enough love letters and charmed objects. This was just another one,” she said, shrugging. Harry took a deep breath.

“But now that Malfoy and I are bonded will it… still have the same effects?” Harry asked hesitantly. Hermione bit her lip.

“Are there any signs that it will be?” she questioned. Harry had half a mind to ask her what she meant, but Harry wasn’t dumb. Harry knew exactly what she meant. And he knew the answer. He looked around, anywhere but her, then settled his gaze on the view outside of the window.

“Possibly,” he sighed. 

“What kinds of signs?” Hermione inquired quietly. Harry shook his head.

“Just, weird, I don’t know, attraction. And noticing details,” Harry went on, thinking back to how the day had gone. There had been multiple moments throughout the day where Harry had found himself picking up on things Draco did or admiring them. He had picked up on some strange attraction to certain parts of him. He wouldn’t have paid attention to it, but he had a lurking feeling that it was only going to get worse, and that’s why he had looked for Hermione. Half of him wanted to save his dignity by never talking about it, but the other half of him desperately wanted to know if there was something he could do about it.

“Well, I hate to say it but that sounds normal,” Hermione told him, her tone soft.

“But wouldn’t it be messed up if Malfoy and I caught it at the same time? If the bond was meant to happen with someone else?” Harry questioned, looking back over at Hermione. She shook her head.

“A bond is a bond and it’ll still bond you to whoever you’re supposed to be bonded with. But the fact that you and Malfoy touched the bond at the same time, that changes it. Now you two are the ones who have been bonded, even though it wasn’t meant to be that way,” Hermione explained. Harry slouched over with a sigh. “The best you can do is follow it as much as you can and try to ignore the side effects,” Hermione told him.

“How am I supposed to ignore stuff like this though?” Harry asked, frustrated. 

“It’ll be difficult but you can only do what you can do,” Hermione told Harry, sounding sympathetic. Harry glanced over at her and when they caught eye contact, she sighed. “Listen, it’s awful that this is Malfoy, but you can get through this, you’ve been through worse,” she pointed out.

“Figures that the first year we come back this would happen,” Harry groused, looking back out the window.

“Well, at least it’s not something worse,” Hermione sighed. Harry let out a huff of air.

“Suppose you’re right,” he agreed, looking out over the grounds, watching the sky grow dark.

“If you need any help with this, the bond or anything else, you can always come to me, Harry,” Hermione assured him, looking over at him kindly. Harry gave her a little smile.

“Thanks, Hermione.”

\---

“I can’t bloody believe this. I can’t believe I have to do this,” Draco muttered to himself, looking at the spare bed that had been added to Harry’s room.

“Yeah, me too,” Harry agreed under his breath.

It had been a week before they had both gotten fed up. They had both believed that the bond would wear off in the means that they could sleep once they had spent most of the day together, but after nights of no rest built up, they finally decided to cut their losses. With permission from McGonagall, an extra bed had been moved into Harry’s room (Draco wasn’t amused that it had to be Harry’s room) where Draco was to sleep. It was their first night trying the setup, and Draco was just about to get into bed. But everything felt absolutely weird, despite the bond quieting down at the fact they were closer together. 

“I’m not happy about this,” Draco stated as he sat down on what was now his bed. 

“Wow, I had absolutely no idea. It’s not like you’ve been complaining for the last twenty minutes or anything,” Harry replied cooly, getting into his own bed.

“Oh shut up,” Draco sneered from a few feet over. “You don’t know how awful it is that I have to share a room with you,” Draco huffed.

“Well, I know how awful it is to share a room with you and I think that that surpasses sharing a room with me,” Harry retorted. 

“I will throw things at you,” Draco warned. 

“Lovely,” Harry sighed, praying that neither of them would have to start a duel in Harry’s room at two in the morning. “Listen, all I want is to sleep for once, so maybe you can just shut up, avoid throwing things, and we can both get what we want,” Harry proposed rather snappishly as he went to settle down on his pillow. He threw his gaze over to Draco who shot him a sour look.

“Fine,” Draco said, and Harry just shook his head and let out a breath before trying to get as comfortable as possible under the covers, setting his wand aside, and turning out the light, not even bothering with his wand, just doing it wandlessly. There was a pause before the light came back on. Harry took a breath and turned it back off. And then it came back on.

“Malfoy,” Harry ground out. Draco heaved a great sigh before the light went off. Then, however, Harry could see a little sliver of light peeking over at him, and he turned to see Draco with the tip of his wand lit, likely by ‘lumos’, held between his teeth whilst he fumbled with a book. Harry arched an eyebrow before Draco caught his gaze and rolled his eyes. He took his wand in his hand and sighed.

“I read before bed sometimes, okay?” he explained. Harry just shook his head and rolled back over. Draco never really seemed that type, but Harry wasn’t about to argue.

“Will the light bother you?” Draco asked, almost… kindly. Well, he wasn’t snapping so that was good.

“No, no,” Harry replied, shaking his head. Draco let out another sigh before he went back to his book and Harry turned away. There was silence between them, but it wasn’t tense and it wasn’t filled with anger or anything of the sort. And it didn’t take too long for Harry to fall asleep, and Draco to follow him soon after. 

Harry was alarmed, however, that when he dreamed, all he dreamed about was Draco. Nothing explicit, nothing strange or unusual, just Draco, standing there and smiling. And for Draco, it was the same way, but with Harry.

\---

The next morning was only somewhat awkward having to get up and go to breakfast, though Harry and Draco didn’t exchange many words. Harry was only glad to sit down with Ron and Hermione at breakfast.

“You look better,” Hermione immediately said, noticing that Harry didn’t look as sleep deprived as he had been looking recently.

“I feel better,” Harry sighed out in reply. It was true, he felt almost relieved having been able to sleep after not being able to for so long.

“How was sharing a room with Malfoy?” Ron questioned as he grabbed a muffin. Harry shrugged.

“Not terrible,” Harry admitted, though part of him wanted to say that it was even better than that. Being able to fall asleep in that close of a vicinity with Draco gave the bond a relief that Harry could feel. Being able to stay so relaxed and close to Draco at once, it was like the biggest comfort Harry had felt in what felt like forever.

“Really?” Ron echoed, sounding as though the prospect of sharing a room with Draco would be the worst thing. Which, admittedly, Harry sort of thought it would be too.

“Surprisingly enough, yeah,” Harry shrugged. “He didn’t hex me in my sleep or anything. He threatened to throw things at me but other than that he wasn’t a complete arse,” Harry explained. 

“Huh,” Ron said thoughtfully as Harry bit into a piece of toast.

“How do you feel?” Hermione inquired, looking over at Harry.

“A little better now that I’ve slept I guess,” Harry told her. “Still bonded to Malfoy though so how much better can I feel about that,” he went on to grumble.

“Well, at least you can sleep now,” Hermione supposed. Harry nodded.

“You’re right. And thankfully I’m more than a week into this so hopefully it’ll be over soon,” Harry mused. Though, the fact that he was over a week into it was having side effects.

Harry was finding himself thinking about Draco more than one probably should. More than Harry should because Harry hated him. But, the bond was telling him differently.

Harry was starting to find himself staring at Draco here and there, admiring the line of his throat or his jaw and the way his hair fell over his face. And then the occasional thought here and there about how maybe Draco wasn’t a total wanker and maybe he had some nice qualities. And maybe Harry would be interested in how Draco would act in… certain situations. Ones that were rather private. Very private.

Harry figured it was the bond that was causing these thoughts and ways of thinking, but there was another side to him, another part of him that felt more relaxed about it. Part of him felt like maybe it wasn’t all on the bond. Part of him felt like maybe he had felt this way before. 

There was always argument that that whole way of thinking was the bond itself, but Harry thought differently. There was something strangely familiar about every thought Harry had about Draco. There was something that offered the possibility that maybe an admiration for Draco was as intrusive as Harry maybe thought it would be.

\---

It was maybe a few days later and both Harry and Draco had gotten into a rhythm of having to sleep in the same room. They made jabs at each other and there was the occasional snide remark from either of them, but for the most part Draco didn’t throw things and they hadn’t started a duel in the middle of the night. The fact that they were getting sleep was affecting the bond however. It felt like it was waking it up in some strange way, asking more from it. It felt like it was pulling it tighter, putting more pressure on it. And it only got worse when one fateful day, they bumped into each other.

Draco and Harry had been walking towards the Great Hall, anticipating dinner after a long day. 

“So, has your Potions grade been going up thanks to me?” Draco questioned casually as they walked through the halls. Harry rolled his eyes. 

“You being my partner has nothing to do with it,” Harry lied. Draco really was marvelous at Potions and he did seem to not terribly mind helping Harry out here and there. 

“That’s what you tell yourself, but you have to learn to separate fact from fiction, Potter,” Draco drawled. 

“Oh, sod off, Malfoy,” Harry sighed, even though there wasn’t a horrible amount of bite to it. It wasn’t like they were friends, but they found that there were times where they weren’t actively hating each other’s guts. 

Draco was just about to open his mouth to say something in response when someone accidentally bumped into Harry who then therefore accidentally bumped into Draco. And it wasn’t like skin was touching skin, it wasn’t anything like that, but the sheer fact that their bodies were touching seemed to offer some glorious relief to the bond that echoed through both Draco and Harry.

There was this moment of utter stillness and peace but with something like electricity underlying it, threatening to spread further. They seemed to both falter for a moment before what felt like irritation on Draco’s end ran through Harry.

“Watch where you’re going,” Draco grumbled before storming off through the rest of the students, heading off to dinner. Harry frowned because that wasn’t their usual routine. Usually they walked together to the Great Hall before parting. They usually stayed with each other even in the halls despite protests from both of them, though mostly from Draco.

Harry had to wonder what Draco had felt during that whole… strange encounter. It was strange, wasn’t it? Harry had felt the annoyance from Draco’s end before he had stomped off, but other than that, all Harry could pay attention to was his own feeling, a feeling of relief and almost happiness. Something like that, along those lines. But then, Harry found himself wondering what that encounter would have been like if it were skin on skin. 

What would it feel like to be able to touch Draco? Maybe his face, or his hands? His skin was probably as smooth as it looked, it probably felt wonderful to touch. Harry wondered distantly if Draco was a touch starved sort of person. Harry knew that he, himself, was, though he would never readily admit it. Being in a relationship with Ginny for as long as he was, it told him a few things. Of course, that was long over and Harry was a bit thankful to be honest because Draco was easily becoming rather distracting.

Harry tried not to think about Draco and the whole touching incident, even throughout the night wherein Draco was right next to him. Harry figured that the next day it would wear off but things only seemed to worsen.

It was during Potions when they were brewing something and they had both been looking for the same ingredient. They had been working together nicely, unusually quiet, when they both reached for the ginger root at the same time. And that was it.

Their fingers brushed, the most chaste skin on skin contact you could have, and Harry felt like he had been sucker punched. Draco actually let out a soft gasp which seemed like something out of a movie, but Harry couldn’t be bothered to complain. All of the sudden there were all these images, mental pictures of him and Draco together, like flashes of memories Harry had never experienced. 

Then, however, Draco’s hand was shooting away from Harry’s, Draco himself pretty much recoiling too. Harry’s hand kind of lingered before dropping to his side. He looked over at Draco who looked slightly terrified. And then he caught his eye and couldn’t really find it in himself to look away. 

His eyes were just so gray and they looked so deep and they seemed to hold so much. Harry was beginning to wonder if all his answers were in those eyes. The answers to his problems, Jesus, probably the answer to the universe. It was most definitely inside of Draco Malfoy’s eyes, Harry decided then and there on the spot.

Harry was going to stare some more when he felt something like aggravation and confusion flare on Draco’s part. Draco immediately snapped his head away, grabbed the ginger root, and tossed it in the cauldron. Harry blinked again, feeling almost like he was in some strange daze, maybe under a spell. But then he shook his head because ‘Keep it together. It’s only Draco. You can handle him.’

After a minute or two Harry just spoke lamely,

“You were supposed to cut the root in half before-”

“I don’t care,” Draco snapped rather loudly. Harry flinched and just looked back down at his own things. “I absolutely, one hundred percent, do not care,” Draco stated plainly which was a pretty big lie because now the potion was completely messed up. Harry had a feeling it was a lie too, just didn’t say anything and kept on working. The absolute last thing he needed was to get in a fight in the middle of class with Draco Malfoy.

\---

Harry wasn’t the only one disenchanted by the events of the day. Later that night, when Draco was in bed, trying to read to try and get his mind off of the stupid bloody bond, all he could think about was what had gone on.

It had been the strangest feeling, to have their skin touch like that. It had been something that Draco wanted more of. It was something Draco felt he _needed_ more of. Which was extremely strange because this was Harry Potter, the one person Draco was supposed to hate above all other people. Though, with each passing day, Draco found it harder and harder to think of him as an enemy. To think of hating him, it felt wrong. Draco knew part of it was the bond, but a lot of it felt too natural for comfort.

Draco was about to shift in bed when he felt eyes on him. He glanced over, and in the low light of his wand he saw Harry simply watching him, something that was pretty unnerving. Draco followed the trail of his gaze and realized that it was on his arm, his left arm that was exposed by the rolled up sleeves of his pajamas. Therefore, all that was on display was the Dark Mark. 

Draco felt some sort of panic flare in him. He never showed it to anyone, always kept his robes over it. The Dark Mark seemed like some awful testament to the things Draco had done, and Draco hated every inch of it.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to stare?” Draco said, trying to keep his tone biting yet cool, but it only came out slightly hoarse. He thought of saying something along the lines of ‘Stop staring’ or, ‘What are you looking at?’ but that was all too obvious. It was obvious what Harry was looking at. 

“Just go to bed already,” Draco said quickly before Harry could reply.

“You don’t feel good, I can’t sleep,” Harry managed to explain. Draco felt a small pang of guilt for that, but he couldn’t really help the way he was feeling. 

Draco was about to open his mouth for some witty retort when Harry spoke up again.

“I don’t think any less of you.”

There was a major record scratch in Draco’s brain. Draco paused.

“What are you on about?” he asked, glancing over at Harry. Harry took a breath.

“The Mark,” he told Draco. “Just because it’s there, it doesn’t mean I think you’re,” He flailed one hand for lack of words. “Bad. I don’t think you’re evil or anything. I don’t mind it,” he went on to explain. 

Draco felt something in him soften. No one had ever said anything like that, no one ever said anything about the Mark. No one ever offered to accept it. Draco himself never accepted it. But now, here he was sharing a room with Harry fucking Potter due to some stupid bond, and he was telling Draco that he didn’t mind the part of Draco that Draco hated the most.

“How can you…?” Draco began, a little lost for words. He just shook his head and put his book down. “No, you don’t understand,” he argued.

“Maybe I don’t,” Harry replied simply, and that really shocked Draco. Harry never seemed the type to admit anything along the lines of defeat. “But I’m just saying, y’know, I don’t mind it. It’s not like it means you’re about to do something evil. It’s there but it’s not like it makes you worse of a person,” Harry went on. Half of Draco wanted to punch Harry so he could shut up because Draco was starting to get a little emotional, but then the other half sort of wanted to kiss Harry. Just a little. Maybe.

“Thanks, Potter,” Draco said quietly after a long, solid pause in the air. If there was one thing Draco hated, it was thanking Harry for things. Now, however, it seemed important. It seemed very important.

“It’s no problem. It’s true,” Harry replied softly from across the room. Draco took a breath before rolling over and settling down into bed. He didn’t say goodnight, but he didn’t feel like he really had to. And for some reason, he slept better than he had in months that night.

\---

The bond seemed to ask for more, it seemed to string both Harry and Draco into the most uptight they had been in awhile. For the most part, as the days went on, all they felt from each other was an annoyance that could have easily been interpreted as something else.

They had been getting along fairly nicely, though Harry was getting more grumpy and Draco was getting more snappish as the days went on. It was a miracle they didn’t hex each other, but it was natural that eventually, things came to a halt, for better or for worse.

It happened during dinner. Harry was completely fine, trying to destress and relax which, he could usually never really do anymore. He was minding his own business when he felt a sharp pull from the bond. 

“Are you okay?” Hermione had asked when she saw Harry’s face change from relaxed to stressed in about a second. 

“Uh, yeah?” Harry replied, though it came out as more of a question.

“What’s wrong?” Ron questioned, watching Harry’s face scrunch up in what looked like confusion.

“No, nothing, it’s just…” Harry trailed off, still feeling some sort of panic or stress from the bond. Harry turned to the Slytherin table, expecting to see Draco, but Draco wasn’t there. Only more confusion flowed through Harry at the fact. Harry paused, made sure Draco wasn’t there before he shook his head. “Nothing,” he repeated, trying to go back to his dinner. After a few minutes, however, with no letting up from the bond, Harry finally just stood up.

“Where’re you going?” Ron asked, now looking just as confused as Harry.

“Something’s wrong with Malfoy I think, I don’t know, he’s not at his table and,” Harry sighed, shaking his head. “I’ll be back, I just have to go find him,” he told Ron and Hermione.

“Harry,” Hermione piped up. Harry turned to look at her. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she warned. Harry quirked a little smile.

“I’m not going to,” he assured her before heading out of the Great Hall and hopefully towards wherever Draco was.

It was odd, very odd because Harry could almost feel through the bond how close he was to Draco. He could still feel Draco’s feelings, intense and fierce, but the closer he seemed to get, the more the bond seemed to loosen up, the more stress seemed to be taken off of Harry.

At first Harry was a little vexed, a little unsure of where Draco was. It wasn’t like he knew where Draco’s hideaways were, nor did he know where on earth Draco went when he was feeling so… upset. But then it hit Harry.

Myrtle’s bathroom. 

Sure enough, as Harry got closer to it, the bond got looser and looser and Draco’s feelings became almost more visceral to Harry. It was the last place Harry wanted to go, let alone find Draco, but once he got to the corridor outside of the bathroom, he knew Draco was in there, he could hear him. And like some sick throwback to the past, he was crying again.

“Hush, Draco, hush, it’s alright,” 

Harry heard Myrtle croon. 

“No,” Draco sniffed. “No, none of it is,” he told her. He didn’t seem to be in hysterics this time, but Harry could still tell that he was crying, at least a little.

“You said the bond is almost over though,” Myrtle reasoned softly. Draco sniffed again and let out a shaky breath.

“It is, it is, but it’s just…” he trailed off.

“What?” Myrtle asked kindly.

“Being with him, having to be connected to him is like having to stand next to the sun and all I do is get burned,” Draco told her quietly. “Everyone thinks he’s so great, and that’s the thing,” Draco went on. “He is. He’s an arse but he’s, he’s kind and he does the right thing. And it’s obnoxious to have to admit that he’s… nice. I’m supposed to hate him, the stupid git,” Draco grit out, kicking something, Harry had no idea what but he heard some clanging sound coming from the bathroom.

“Just because you like him, that’s not a bad thing,” Myrtle pointed out. Draco scoffed.

“It’s not, it’s just,” he sighed. “Until the bond, I didn’t think anything of him. But now it’s like he’s not so bad,” Draco trailed off, sniffing a little more. 

Harry, being somewhat of an idiot, then decided that maybe he could step into the bathroom to get a little closer, or to at least hear Draco a little better. Harry, very much distracted, promptly forgot that Draco was rather stealthy and also there were bloody _mirrors_ in the bathroom and Draco could probably _see_ him. So, it wasn’t until Harry was standing in the bathroom and Draco was turned on him with his wand out, pointing directly at Harry, that Harry realized he had made a big mistake.

“Out,” Draco said curtly. “Get the fuck out,” he went on, his voice firm. Harry raised his hands up slowly, doing absolutely anything but reach for his wand because he really _really_ didn’t want to repeat Sixth Year.

“I was just,” Harry began because he should _explain himself_ , right? Draco’s jaw clenched and unclenched and Harry watched the movement. His eyes roamed Draco’s face, his cheeks with tear stains, his eyes just slightly red, dark, but with something weak underlying it. Something like innocence.

“You think you can come in here and listen to every word I say? How much did you hear?” Draco questioned. Harry realized that Draco was ever so slowly approaching him, and if they kept it up, Harry would be backed against a wall. Meanwhile, Myrtle seemed to either have left or gone quiet which Harry was a little thankful for.

“No, I didn’t hear anything,” Harry lied, shaking his head. A smile twitched onto Draco’s face, but not a very nice smile, one that was rather dark, nothing like a regular smile that regular people used. “Malfoy, put the wand down,” Harry went on because Draco looked like he was ready to start shooting off spells any minute. Harry could feel it too, from the bond. But, oddly enough, there seemed to be mixed feelings, more than just one, more than just anger.

“Why don’t you take out your wand too, Potter? We can always repeat what happened last time we were in here,” Draco suggested.

“I didn’t know what that spell did,” Harry ground out because it was important that Draco knew Harry wasn’t exactly trying to kill Draco. Which, Harry had a feeling Draco knew that already, but Harry really wanted to stress the whole _not killing Draco_ part. “I came here because I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Harry went on, trying to keep his voice calm.

“Oh, was it the bond? Could you tell that I was upset because of the bond?” Draco asked, his tone biting. Harry opened his mouth and closed it. It was true, in all actuality, but he had a feeling Draco didn’t want to hear that as an answer.

“Why did it have to be you? Harry fucking Potter,” Draco went on. “Of all the people to be bonded with, it just had to be you,” Draco went on. Harry took another step back and his foot hit the wall. Immediately, a small sense of panic ran through him. It wasn’t a very good thing that Draco Malfoy had his wand out and pointing at Harry’s face whilst Harry was pinned to a wall. No, definitely not a good thing.

“Listen, Malfoy, I’m not happy about this either but maybe you could put the wand down,” Harry tried to suggest.

“Why should I?” Draco asked simply.

“Because we’ve only got like a week to go before this stupid bond is up. And then you absolutely never have to talk to me again or even look my way. Maybe you can even hex me then because I have a feeling if you go to hex me now, you’ll get some backlash,” Harry reasoned. Draco seemed to falter at that, but still held his wand out. “Put it down,” Harry continued after a pause. 

Harry felt Draco’s anger twitch, and he watched Draco clench his jaw again before he slowly lowered his wand, but kept it by his side for a moment before shoving it in the back pocket of his trousers. Harry immediately let out a sigh of relief, but then again, he was still pinned against a wall in an empty bathroom, so that was never a good thing. 

Draco looked at him, and looked at him some more, and Harry felt Draco’s anger swelling inside of him. And then, all the sudden, it shifted to Harry, and Harry felt this surge of annoyance towards Draco.

“Well, you have me here now, why don’t you break my nose again?” Harry prompted. He had a feeling it wasn’t a good idea to provoke Draco, but all the sudden, his words just came out with reckless abandon and no filter.

Harry wasn’t really sure what he was expecting. Maybe he was expecting Draco to have some mercy, and maybe he was expecting Draco to hold back. But sometimes, when you offer for someone to repeat history, they want to. Which, apparently, Draco did. Because the next thing Harry knew, Draco’s fist was flying back before coming forwards and making direct contact with Harry’s face, his nose in particular. And for some reason, it was the most glorious thing Harry had felt in a while.

Harry stumbled back and away from the wall, hand flying up to his nose that was already starting to bleed. It was painful, obviously, but the fact that him and Draco had made skin on skin contact, it made a thrill run through Harry that he was sure he wouldn’t feel again.

Harry straightened up from where he was leaning over and he looked over at Draco who had this fucking smug look on his face. Almost a smile. His eyes were almost wide, he looked like some wild animal, some extremely satisfied wild animal with a smug, stupid, obnoxious half smile on his face. And Harry couldn’t stand it.

Harry immediately grabbed Draco by the front of his robes having no problem slamming Draco into the wall, clear into his personal space, knocking the wind out of Draco for a second. They were practically chest to chest now, and Draco could feel Harry’s breath on him, quick and heavy. Draco tilted his chin up but kept his eyes down to look at Harry. There was some twinge of guilt for the whole nose punching thing, but half of Draco felt relieved. And now that they were this close together…

The air was absolutely charged with what felt like electricity as they just stared at each other for a few seconds. The fact that they were so close, it had jolts of energy running through both of them, the bond strung tight, everything feeling like it was about to snap.

“Are you happy now?” Harry growled. Draco grit his teeth and smiled a little more, something that gave Harry the urge to return Draco the favor in the nose punching front.

“I think so,” Draco breathed out, trying to keep his breath even though it came out shaky. Then, just because he had the sheer nerve, he brought up one hand and gestured to his nose. “You’ve got a little something,” he began, but Harry cut him off, grabbed his wrists and slammed them into the wall with a wince and a breathless laugh from Draco.

“You absolute, insufferable-”

“What now, Potter? Return the favor? Hex me?”

“Hex your mouth shut so I don’t have to listen to every stupid word that comes out of it,” Harry managed, the anger inside him mixing with Draco’s and causing more than enough adrenaline to rush through him.

“Do it,” Draco whispered, his chin still tilted up like he was the bigger one, the stronger one in this situation even though the tear stains down his cheeks were still there and his eyes were still red. “I fucking dare you,” he said slowly.

And at this point, everything seemed to go in slow motion for Harry. He looked down at Draco’s mouth. It was a nice mouth, he had nice lips. And then Harry thought to himself what a shame it would be to hex it shut. But he had to shut it in some way, right? He couldn’t just… leave it open. Because Draco would say more stupid things. So he had to do something.

So, he surged forwards, and smashed his lips right onto Draco’s.

It wasn’t a great kiss in theory, it wasn’t wonderful. It was far too forceful and there was blood everywhere, but with the bond strung possibly tighter than it had ever been, it felt magnificent.

Draco made some strange noise when their lips connected, but after a second, the noise turned into a low groan. The skin on skin was good enough, but the contact of lips on lips… that was absolutely incredible.

Harry was never one for talking about romantic kisses, or how wonderful kisses were, and nor was Draco honestly. But, if Harry had to describe the kiss, it would be as though his world was falling down all around him. Everything was crumbling and all there was was Draco, Draco, Draco. 

Harry’s hands were still curled roughly around Draco’s wrists, and they stayed there, pushing them only harder into the wall, gaining some beautiful whimper from Draco who opened his mouth at the feeling.

It only got messier from there, and all there was was the taste of blood and spit and Harry could even taste some of Draco’s tears still left on his lips but it felt so fucking beautiful. It was still all too forceful, but both of them had a feeling that it needed to be that way because it felt like they had been starving for each other for years and years, even though it had been less than a month.

Harry wasn’t even aware that he had been grinding into Draco until Draco started grinding his hips back, and that was when Harry realized that he was already half hard just from _kissing Draco_. The thought only made him harder, it only made him kiss Draco harder.

Their teeth were clashing, and it was rough and wanton but it seemed like there was no other way to go about it. The moved against each other like they were dying for it, like each of them was air and each of them were dying to breathe.

Everything felt exactly right in that moment, everything felt like it was in sync. Both of them thought that, Christ, this was what they were getting for all the awful shit that had happened. This was their reward and it was the best it could possibly be.

Harry could hear his blood pumping and rushing in his ears, overlaying the sounds Draco was making, entirely captivating sounds that Harry wanted to put on a soundtrack and listen to every single day. 

They had to pull away from each other quicker than one normally would just because of how furiously they had been kissing. It stole both of their breaths. So, finally, Harry pulled away, even as Draco chased his lips, and rested his head on the tile wall behind Draco. 

“Oh, God,” Harry simply breathed after catching his breath. “Oh, God,” he repeated as though those were the only words he would be able to say for the next hour or so. 

“Fuck,” Draco breathed out in response as though they had some secret language going and could converse though swears and exclamations. 

They both paused, didn’t say anything, and caught their breaths. Then, Harry realized that maybe the whole kissing thing was out of line because it was his idea and he was the one who initiated it.

“I, uh, sorry, about, um, that, I just,” Harry began, wondering how you’re supposed to apologize for kissing your arch enemy with a bloody, probably broken nose right after your arch enemy had been crying.

“Please, don’t,” Draco panted. “Don’t apologize. That was, God, so fucking good,” Draco sighed, letting his head drop forwards onto Harry’s shoulder. Harry sighed shakily and slowly let his grip go on Draco’s wrists, cringing at the fact that he would probably leave bruises. Harry took a deep breath and shut his eyes.

“I just, I don’t want to do anything just because of the bond. I don’t want to force you or anything, I…” Harry trailed off. Draco shook his head.

“No, no, I know what you mean,” he sighed. “Don’t, don’t worry, it’s not just the bond,” Draco told Harry quietly. Harry paused.

“How do you know?” Harry questioned. Draco let out a huff of air.

“Rational thought, fuck, I don’t know, Potter it’s just, it’s a feeling I have and I trust it,” Draco explained. Harry immediately felt at some sort of ease. He pretty much knew what Draco was feeling, he had the same one. “I still hate you, but I mean, you’re fun to kiss,” Draco told Harry who snorted.

“Yeah, thanks, Malfoy,” Harry sighed in reply.

“No problem,” Draco replied. There was another pause before Draco smiled a little. “I’d like to kiss you some more,” he said quietly into the crook of Harry’s neck. Harry shivered and a groan fell from his lips with no authorization. The sound made Draco smile as he brought his head back up and let it loll back against the wall. Harry pulled back to look at him and he was a fucking sight. His eyes were dark and his hair was an absolute mess, there was blood on his face, Harry’s blood, and somehow, he looked perfect like that.

“Maybe a little more gently this time,” Draco offered with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe without the blood,” he muttered, muttering something under his breath, from what Harry could tell a cleaning charm. Harry brought a finger up to his lips and when he pulled it away there was no blood. “Not the only one good at wandless magic, Potter,” Draco sighed before he was pressing forwards to kiss Harry again. And Harry couldn’t really tell if that was a euphemism or not but he didn’t care as he let himself get lost in another kiss with Draco, this time much more tender. 

Everything was still rigid, it felt like, just from the situation. Harry could still feel some sort of tension inside of Draco, and it was pretty understandable. Punching someone in the face can leave lingering feelings. 

Though there was something more now, a pleasure, a want or a need or something like that the flowed through Harry smoothly than any other feelings he had felt before.

Harry tried to pull away from Draco a little since he realized he was crowding him into the wall, but immediately, Draco wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and pulled him back, his hips thrusting upwards, gaining a groan from Harry.

“No,” Draco simply muttered into the kiss that was soon growing more heated, the tenderness lingering but not overpowering them. “I’ve wanted you like this for far too long,” he sighed, his hips starting to roll experimentally, finding a good pace, trying to meet Harry’s.

“You have?” Harry questioned, frowning a little into the kiss. It felt rather strange to hear those words come from Draco’s mouth. But then Draco was biting Harry’s lower lip, taking it between his teeth and pulling. 

Harry had no idea how he didn’t come then and there on the the spot.

“Don’t be a dumb arse,” Draco mumbled, breathing open mouthed against Harry. 

“Why’d you have to punch me in the face then?” Harry managed because that was a good question. Draco gave a sweet laugh, something like honey that made something in Harry melt just a little.

“You offered,” he said, and he must have known that Harry was going to protest that statement because he pressed forwards for an open mouthed kiss that made Harry groan. 

It took Harry a moment, before Harry realized his hands weren’t doing much now that they were no longer pinning Draco to the wall, so one went to slide around Draco’s waist, and the other came up to cup his jaw. Harry thought for a moment to be gentle and all, but they he decided against it as he pushed Draco’s jaw up, pulling away from the kiss to press his lips to Draco’s neck. Draco immediately gasped at the feeling, shivers running through him when Harry’s lips brushed over a pulse point. Draco felt Harry grin against the skin of his neck.

“Scared, Malfoy?” Harry questioned playfully, Draco figured since his pulse was probably hammering in his throat. He swallowed and let out a dark chuckle.

“You wish, Potter,” he replied, thrusting his hips up towards Harry’s. Harry seemingly only grinned more at that before biting at Draco’s neck, not too harshly but enough to leave a bruise and enough for Draco to gasp. “Yes,” Draco breathed out, letting his eyes flutter shut as his hands fisted in the fabric of Harry’s robes a little more.

Harry kept on kissing over Draco’s neck, and he could feel the want in the bond intensifying, pulling itself taut. Their hips kept grinding together in the most wanton and needy way, and finally, one of Harry hand’s began trailing downwards when he figured enough was enough.

“Can I…?” he began softly, his fingers hovering over Draco’s belt buckle. Something in Draco twitched at the calmness of the words, at the intention of them. Like Harry would probably stop if Draco really wanted him to. But Draco was no where near not wanting him to.

“Merlin, yes,” Draco choked out after a few seconds. Immediately, Harry was abandoning Draco’s neck, his hands fumbling to undo Draco’s belt. His hands hesitated when he had his belt undone, and his fingers were on the button of Draco’s trousers. Draco felt a strange sense of unease through the bond and he paused.

“What? What’s wrong?” he panted. Harry glanced up at him and _God_ , his eyes were so wide and green and-

“I’ve never done this before,” he managed to tell Draco who let out a shaky breath. Draco shook his head and leaned forwards, letting his forehead rest against Harry’s.

“You don’t have to-”

“I want to,” Harry interrupted. Draco swallowed and caught eye contact with him again.

“I haven’t either,” Draco said softly. Harry looked slightly taken aback. Draco took a deep breath. “Can we maybe save our sexual histories for a later date?” he questioned. Harry nodded jerkily. “Just, do what you’re comfortable with and as long as you’re touching me, I’m happy, okay?” Draco assured Harry who took a breath and nodded. 

Harry slowly gathered himself, pulled himself together, and managed to pull Draco’s cock out of his trousers, something was entirely strange but definitely not in a bad way. Harry stole a glance to find that Draco had a _very_ nice cock and Harry was definitely not going to complain about being able to touch it. Harry stroked him just once, just experimentally, and Draco moaned like it was the best thing he had ever felt. Harry felt pleasure surge through the bond and it made his own cock twitch. 

“Is that, that feels good?” Harry questioned, keeping his hand going, almost timid. Draco nodded quickly.

“Yes, it’s good, it’s very good,” Draco choked out. 

“You’re sure?” Harry asked, just a little worried because after all, this was the first time he was actually with a guy, and he had never exactly had anyone else’s cock in his hand other than his own.

“Just touch me like you’d touch yourself,” Draco panted. Harry moaned and dropped his head onto Draco’s shoulder. Those words shouldn’t be allowed. They were far too erotic and if Draco continued saying things like that, Harry would probably come in his pants.

Harry gained just a bit of confidence after that, Draco’s words echoing in his head. He kept his hand going and stroked at a pace he usually liked, let his fingers wander just a bit. Draco seemed to be enjoying it too, which was very good. Harry could feel the bond nearly pulsating with heat, with pleasure, and he could tell a lot of it was coming from Draco.

“After this, I want to touch you too,” Draco managed, his breathing heavy. Harry groaned softly, his hips grinding into Draco’s thigh at the prospect of Draco touching him. His hand moved a little faster over Draco’s cock and Draco’s hips twitched up into the touch. “I could touch you now but I wouldn’t be focused enough,” Draco went on breathily. “I want to be focused so I can make it good for you,” Draco sighed, nosing at the side of Harry’s face, nipping at his ear. “I want to make it good for you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. 

“Fuck, Malfoy, you can’t,” Harry huffed, his hips desperately trying to grind forwards into Draco. “You can’t just say stuff like that,” Harry finally breathed out. Draco grinned as best he could when he felt like he was less than a minute away from coming.

“You’re as close as me I can tell,” Draco breathed out, his hips starting to fuck themselves up into Harry’s fist. “Do you think I could make you come from talking?” Draco questioned, his breath hot against Harry’s neck. Harry made some strange noise since he was pretty sure the answer was ‘yes’ but he didn’t want to admit to that.

“Can you shut up?” Harry managed.

“Do you want me to?” Draco questioned, moaning when Harry grasped Draco’s cock a little harder. “I wish I could tell you all the things I want to do with you, do to you,” Draco went on, apparently not shutting up anytime soon. “But the first thing I’m gonna do is suck you off until you’re begging for more,” Draco said, and that was absolutely it. That was it.

Harry came on a long groan of Draco’s name, and apparently, due to the bond, Draco came too, therefore, Draco couldn’t argue about who came first. Thankfully.

It went both ways, it traveled through the bond, this white hot burning pleasure that started from their heads to their toes, then lingered and fanned throughout seemingly every inch of them. It felt like the one thing they needed. It felt like the one thing they had been looking for the whole time.

It was absolute and utter bliss, and probably one of the longest lasting orgasms either of them had had. Finally, when it was all aftershocks, Draco batted Harry’s hand away from his cock and melted against the wall, letting Harry’s weight press into him almost painfully.

“Oh my God,” Draco managed to choke out after a few quiet moments. “Holy shit,” he breathed out afterwards. 

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Harry mumbled into Draco’s shoulders, thinking that on many levels none of any of what happened was sane on any one. Harry felt Draco’s hand come up to cup the back of his head and immediately a sense of comfort flooded through him. 

“Do you think,” Draco began, trying to catch his breath. “That it’ll always be that intense?” he questioned. Harry straightened up a little, pulled away from Draco just enough so he wasn’t crushing him.

“I, uh, I don’t know,” Harry coughed. “But, we should probably test that theory,” he went on, giving Draco a nod. Draco fought back a smile.

“I agree.”

\---

“Well, I’m happy to inform you two that the bond is finally gone. No trace of magic between you two,” McGonagall told both Harry and Draco a week or so later in her office.

“Thank, Merlin,” Draco sighed.

“The girl responsible for the Snitch was caught and now that Valentine’s Day is decidedly over, I think you’ll find a lot less charmed objects and love letters in your mail, Mr. Potter,” she said, looking over at Harry who nodded. “So, I’m sure you two will be very happy now that you can return to your normal schedules,” she told them with a nod. Both Harry and Draco nodded. “Good. You can return back to your classes now,” she told them, and both Harry and Draco rose from their seats and headed out the door, down a corridor and off to their next class.

“Thank, Merlin that that’s over,” Draco breathed out as the walked side by side.

“You don’t need to say it again,” Harry said, glancing over at Draco.

“Like I said, thank Merlin that that’s over,” Draco simply repeated, earning an eye roll from Harry. 

The two walked in silence for a while before Draco finally spoke up.

“So, everything that we, y’know, did in the last few weeks,” he began. Harry immediately thought back to how his last few weeks of existence were probably filled with more sex than he would ever have again. The bond made pretty much everything between them more intense, so when Harry was feeling pleasure, Draco could feel it too and vice versa. Therefore, it was all pretty much bliss.

“Yeah?” Harry replied slowly. The truth was, he had no idea what Draco would want to do about that whole situation. They never really brought feelings into any of it, sort of claimed it to be just shagging, but Harry had no idea if Draco would want to continue that or not.

“That’s just… behind us, right?” Draco questioned. Harry’s heart immediately sank and half of him wished that Draco could feel it so he didn’t have to speak up. Of course he didn’t want it to be over, and not just because Draco was a really fucking good kisser. Harry had grown sort of fond of the annoying git. And admittedly, he would miss him during the classes they didn’t have together anymore.

“Oh,” Harry said, trying not to let disappointment through his tone. “Yeah, yeah. We don’t have to talk about it or anything,” Harry went on. Draco nodded curtly.

“Good, good,” he said, trailing off. “I’ll see you around, Potter,” Draco bid, heading down a different corridor than Harry.

“See you around, Malfoy,” Harry called after Draco, feeling even a bit more sad than before. 

So, what, they just went back to being enemies now? They never talked about what happened between them those last few weeks of the bond? Harry huffed a breath as he walked down the halls. Apparently Draco was just a one time thing. Harry would probably just have to accept that.

\---

It was a few weeks, almost a month later, and Harry was still vaguely trying to get over the whole Draco thing. He didn’t expect it to hit him as hard as it did, but he supposed that maybe the bond had something to do with it. Maybe it was lingering and leaving lingering feelings behind.

Harry tried his best to ignore Draco and things were seemingly going alright until one day, when Harry was in the library, Draco came up behind him.

“Potter,” he said curtly, startling Harry who jumped and turned around.

“Er, Malfoy,” Harry replied, trying not to look Draco in the eye.

“I need a word,” Draco said promptly. Harry blinked.

“Uh, okay.”

“In private.”

Harry arched an eyebrow, finally looking Draco in the eye. Draco looked almost… pleading.

“The broom cupboard,” Draco said, referencing one of the places they used to go around and snog or exchange other things. Harry’s eyebrow only went higher. Draco rolled his eyes.

“Just, please? I need to talk to you,” he said, sounding almost exasperated. Harry sighed and shook his head.

“Yeah, okay,” he replied, following Draco as they headed out to the corridor and snuck into the broom closet with luckily no one around. Harry immediately cast ‘lumos’ and gave a sigh.

“What is this about, Malfoy?” Harry questioned. Draco looked at unease as he looked anywhere but Harry.

“I just… wanted to talk,” Draco told Harry.

“Then talk,” Harry said simply after a pause. Draco took a deep breath and let it out.

“I was wondering if you wanted to,” he began, pausing to take another breath. “Continue where we left off. With the bond,” he went on. Harry blinked.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Draco replied. Harry felt his brain trying to figure out what on earth Draco’s reasoning was.

“You said not to talk about it again. You said it was behind us,” Harry pointed out, trying not to get angry because it seemed easy to do. 

“I know, I know,” Draco sighed. “But I, I just, thought maybe we could, y’know, keep up what we…” he trailed off as though he didn’t have the words. Harry leaned his back against the wall of the broom closet.

“You just want a shag out of this, right? And that’s why you came back?” Harry supposed. 

“Potter, no, listen,” Draco huffed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I missed you,” he followed up. Harry blinked, and blinked, and blinked some more.

“What?” he questioned.

“I missed you!” Draco exclaimed. “I, it’s not just the shagging, I mean, that’s brilliant, but you, you’re kind of not awful,” Draco followed up lamely, promptly frowning at the words. 

Harry was absolutely lost. 

“What?” he just repeated. Draco sent him a glare.

“Don’t play dumb. You heard me perfectly well,” Draco said. Harry shook his head.

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” Harry questioned, still overall confused.

“I didn’t think you would want it. No one’s particularly fond of me, I mean, that’s just a fact,” Draco huffed. “No one really wants to stay around me other than Pansy and Blaise and in that week we had together, you stayed by my side. And then before, what you said about the Dark Mark…” Draco trailed off, shaking his head. 

You just, you never seemed to mind being around me, but then I figured it was just the bond, so I let things be. But, I figured I could ask you if you wanted to, y’know, keep things going because well,” he trailed off and huffed. “I still kind of hate you, and I still think you’re a prat half the time but sometimes you can be rather nice and you always seemed to maybe not want to hex me every second like seemingly everyone in the school does,” Draco went on, practically babbling at this point. Finally he stopped and glanced up at Harry. They stared for a second before Harry smiled, shook his head, then leaned forwards and gave Draco a soft kiss.

“Malfoy, you arse,” Harry mumbled, kissing him again.

“What?” Draco asked, now also confused.

“It wasn’t just the bond. I sort of enjoyed your company too. And I miss you in my classes too,” Harry added on, noting how strange it felt to be telling Draco Malfoy this.

“You, really?” Draco questioned, pulling back from Harry. Harry nodded.

“Yes, yes, really,” Harry sighed. “Now, can I kiss you some more to shut you up?” Harry questioned with a soft smile. Draco tried to bite back his own smile as he nodded, and Harry pressed forwards to press his lips to Draco’s.

Everything was rather soft and calm at first, even though the underlying want from not kissing each other for nearly a month was there. But it was kept at bay as Draco went to loop his arms around Harry’s neck and Harry let one hand settle around Draco’s waist, the other coming up to cup his cheek. 

Harry stroked his thumb over Draco’s cheekbone, something he knew made Draco melt, and let the kiss deepen as Draco sighed and relaxed into it. It felt almost strange to be kissing Draco after such a long break, but it all seemed so familiar at the same time. Harry remembered when Draco liked to be touched and stroked and the way he liked to be kissed, demanding yet languid so that he could meet it. 

Their kisses were always interesting, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was much like them themselves, always trying to get the upper hand, take the other apart. It was good that way though because they both dissolved quickly, fell apart into each other’s hands like putty.

They kissed until little noises began welling up in the back of Draco’s throat and he started melting further into the wall, his body looser, more lax. Harry joined him, pressing against him, loving the warmth Draco’s body offered, the solidity it had and how it felt grounding.

Harry pulled away eventually, but didn’t stop, just placed gentle kisses down Draco’s jaw line, nipped at tender skin.

“Class is in five minutes,” Draco managed shakily as Harry tilted his head up and went down to kiss over his neck.

“Don’t care,” Harry simply replied, sucking a harsh bruise onto Draco’s neck as Draco arched up into him at the feeling. Harry absolutely _loved_ Draco’s neck since it was so long and pale and wonderfully smooth. There was nothing he loved more than sucking marks onto it. Of course, they always had to get rid of them before they left wherever they had been, which was a pity, but at least Harry could have his moment.

“Missed this so much,” Harry mumbled into the skin of Draco’s neck.

“Missed you so much,” Draco replied readily. Harry grinned against the skin of Draco’s neck because if he could record those words and listen to them for forever he would. He ground his hips down a little, just in experimentation, and found that Draco was already half hard, something that Harry relished.

“We can’t just, ah, snog in a broom closet all day,” Draco pointed out with his rational mind. 

“Why not?” harry replied, dragging his lips all over Draco’s neck, leaving goosebumps all over Draco’s skin. Draco’s hips twitched up into Harry’s and Harry immediately gave a slow, exaggerated grind downwards of his hips, pulling a soft groan from Draco.

“Do you know how many House points we’ll lose?” Draco managed. Harry shook his head. A rationally thinking Draco during any form of sexual encounters was never good. Harry liked him best when he was all soft little noises and greedy hands.

“Okay, I’ll make it quick then,” Harry proposed. “We can sneak out after dark tonight and have a more in depth reunion,” Harry suggested to which Draco nodded. “Can I suck you off now then?” Harry asked, sounding rather eager. Draco let out a soft noise, his hips still grinding upwards into Harry’s. Draco felt Harry nose at the space behind Draco’s ear. “I really missed sucking your cock,” Harry murmured. Draco absolutely groaned at that because Harry shouldn’t be allowed to just _say_ things like that. That was far too arousing and far too sensual for Draco to actually handle.

“Yes,” Draco finally choked out. Harry caught Draco up in a messy kiss before sinking down to his knees, and immediately a rush of anticipation ran through Draco. He had probably jerked off to this scenario a million times in the interim he didn’t see Harry, but now that it was actually happening, it was like some dream come true.

Harry didn’t even fumble with the zipper on Draco’s trousers, just undid them with grace and pulled out Draco’s cock. The first contact of skin on skin had Draco’s hips bucking, a hiss coming from between his teeth. It wasn’t much, but all he could think of was the bond, how intense feelings felt when they were together like that. Now, it was different, but for some reason, it didn’t seem that much less intense.

Harry gave Draco’s cock a few firm strokes and Draco bit his lip, trying to keep any noises back. He then remembered that they hadn’t put either a silencing charm or a locking charm on the door so he wriggled into his back pocket and found his wand. Harry arched an eyebrow up at him but Draco shook his head.

“Silencing charm, locking charm,” Draco simply choked out before muttering a couple spells. Harry nodded.

“Thanks,” Harry simply said.

“No- ohhh,” Draco’s attempt at saying ‘No problem’ was thwarted when Harry slid onto his cock, his mouth hot and wet and absolutely divine. Draco’s head dropped back against the wall as he let out a shaking breath. He was starting to really wish they weren’t both fully clothed in a stuffy broom closet because Draco felt like he was burning up. He could feel heat running through him from his head to his toes, settling in the pit of his stomach, curling there and threatening to fan out. He knew it would eventually, but for now it was there, staying there.

Harry’s mouth was an absolute sinful thing, and his tongue was just as much. There were first times for both of them when they had started messing around, and one of those was blow jobs. Draco wasn’t horrible at them, but Harry seemed to have some hidden skill. The way he could work his tongue, the way his mouth moved and his hand moved in counter part, it was one of the more wonderful things Draco had experienced in his lifetime.

Then and there in the broom closet, things were dim, but when Draco looked down he could still see Harry’s face rather well. It did strange things to Draco to see Harry on his knees for him. Harry Potter was everyone’s hero, he was the Savior, but he was on his knees for Draco Malfoy, an ex Death Eater whom everyone hated. He was literally sucking Draco’s cock, and the fact had Draco’s hand snaking down and into Harry’s hair, fingers curling and tugging just so. 

Harry let out a soft moan at the feeling, but didn’t falter with his movements. He kept his lips wrapped around Draco’s cock and sucked him off the way he knew Draco liked. Tonguing under the crown, taking him as far down his throat as he could get without choking. Harry did everything he could to get Draco to the edge, and he could tell when he was. His hand was gripping Harry’s hair almost painfully, and his hips seemed to be trying desperately not to thrust into Harry’s mouth.

“Fuck, Potter,” Draco choked out when he could tell he was getting close. Harry just hummed all happily, watched every movement Draco had to make. Harry ignored the fact that he, himself, was also achingly hard. All he was focused on was Draco, Draco’s pleasure. And he kept on focusing on it until Draco was finally coming, muttering curses and swears under his breath the whole time.

Harry felt just a bit, or maybe a lot, of satisfaction when Draco was done and Harry was pulling off of his cock, slowly rising back to his feet and tucking Draco back into his trousers. The second Draco’s head was off the wall, Harry leaned forwards and caught his lips in a needy kiss that didn’t even bother starting out chaste. Draco let out a lazy, slow moan into it, tasting himself on Harry’s tongue as his hand came to slide back through Harry’s hair.

“Did you…?” Draco began to pant, but the answer was given when Harry pressed his cock against Draco’s hip. “Oh,” Draco breathed out, a thrill rushing through him at the prospect of Harry hard and expectant and wanting things from Draco that Draco could gladly give him.

“Here,” Draco sighed, shifting their positions so that it was Harry pinned against the wall, not Draco. “Let me,” he went on, reaching downwards, palming Harry through his trousers for a minute just for good measure.

“Quit teasing,” Harry groaned in between messy kisses. Draco smiled softly, pulled away and undid Harry’s zipper.

“Sorry, can’t help it. I haven’t had you needy and pinned to a wall in ages,” Draco murmured into Harry’s neck as he pulled out his cock. Harry let out another groan as his head thumped back against the wall.

Draco had half a mind to get Harry off as quick as possible since they really were going to be late for their next class. But then, he remembered just how long it felt they had been apart, and he remembered how satisfying it was to be with Harry. So, he just started off with slow, almost teasing strokes. Firm and steady and enough to lead up into something more.

They stayed silent for a few moments, their kisses forgotten as Draco nuzzled into the crook of Harry’s neck and Harry’s head stayed against the wall. Harry made these all too beautiful sounds every time Draco twisted his wrist so Draco made sure to do it fairly often. It was seemingly like riding a bike. Everything became familiar, and Draco remembered the ways Harry liked Draco’s hand to move. Draco made sure to move his hand in exactly those ways, and he ate up every noise and praise Harry had to offer in reply.

It helped, of course, that Draco was an absolutely exceptional dirty talker. The whole time he worked his hand over Harry’s cock, faster and faster with more and more intent, he whispered into Harry’s ear all the things he had missed, all the things he wanted to do, the things they could do to make up for time lost.

Harry considered being somewhat embarrassed for how seemingly quickly he came, but Draco didn’t seem in the mood to tease, and Harry was just happy to have an orgasm with Draco in the vicinity.

Once it was all said and done, Draco muttered another wandless cleaning charm, something Harry had learned Draco was rather good at. Harry and Draco kissed lazily and happily with interspersed moans for what felt like forever before they pulled away, Draco leaning against Harry. Harry’s hand eventually came up to cup the back of Draco’s head and his lips pressed themselves to Draco’s temple.

“We should get to class,” Draco croaked after a minute. Harry let out a great sigh.

“Suppose you’re right,” Harry replied, stroking his fingers through Draco’s hair. There was another pause before Harry spoke up, his voice soft. “You’ll stay this time?”

It was phrased as a question and at first Draco thought he meant stay with him for the day, but then Draco realized what he meant. Stay as in don’t run off like an idiot. Stay as in stay by Harry’s side. Stay as in… hold on. 

Draco didn’t think he could look Harry in the eye when he said it so he didn’t. He just kept his head buried in Harry’s neck and smiled, something that Harry could feel.

“I’ll stay this time.”

\---

Two months later and nothing had particularly changed. Draco stayed by Harry’s side and they kept up the act of snogging in broom closets and sneaking off at night to fool around God knows where. No one really knew they were together, they kept that a secret because they figured shit would hit the fan if people did find out they were… together. Which, Harry made sure they were on the same page in that front. And they were.

Everything seemed to be fine and all, but, of course, nothing seemed to ever go right for Harry when he needed things to go right.

It was a normal Monday morning and Harry was in the middle of breakfast. He was talking some with Ron and Hermione when Neville stepped in.

“Oh, hey Neville,” Harry greeted, turning around to where Neville was standing behind him. Though, he didn’t look very happy nor did he look very pleased. Harry frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Harry, you, uh, might want to take a look at this,” Neville said slowly, handing over that week’s ‘Prophet’. Harry raised an eyebrow since he really tried to stay away from the News as much as he could, but Neville gave him a persistent look. “It nearly made the front page, but… not quite,” Neville trailed off. Harry simply took a bite of cereal as he turned to one of the prime pages of the Prophet. And then, he promptly spit out his cereal.

“What, what is it?” Ron questioned, craning his neck to try and look at what Harry was looking at. Harry felt his stomach drop and his heart in his throat. Under the loquacious and oh so wonderful headline, ‘Ex Death Eater Caught Snogging The Boy Who Lived’ was a picture. A picture of Harry and Draco kissing under a staircase in some corridor that they probably thought was safe.

“Fuck,” Harry hissed, immediately reading over the description. Of course it was written by Skeeter, and it seemed like it was some Ravenclaw girl who let the picture leak. Harry had no idea how him and Draco managed to get caught, things had seemed to be going well for them. They had been quiet and stealthy and they didn’t make any fuss.

Harry slapped the paper down on the table and dropped his head into his hands. He had a headache, he had a massive headache now.

Ron immediately picked up the paper and Hermione craned her neck to read too. 

“Oh,” Hermione said softly.

“This isn’t a real picture,” Ron stated plainly before looking back up at Harry, then at Neville who just shrugged. Harry took a deep breath and let it out. He honestly had no idea how to go about this since Draco wasn’t there to consult and maybe Draco wanted to lie. But was Harry really about to lie? 

Harry immediately glanced over to the Slytherin table where there was no Draco to be seen. But, there was a Pansy Parkinson holding the exact same paper Harry had.

“Harry,” Ron said, snapping Harry back into things. “Where did they get this?” he questioned, nodding to the paper. Harry glanced at the paper, then back over to where Draco was missing and just got up from his table.

“I’ll be back,” Harry told them.

“What? What do you-?” Ron began.

“I’ll explain everything in a minute I just, I have to do something,” Harry said before he was hurrying off to the one place where he knew Draco most definitely was.

Myrtle’s bathroom.

Draco had explained to Harry that when he came back to Hogwarts, one of the only other people that would talk to him was Myrtle. When he came back he had a tendency towards panic attacks and the only place he could really find when he was having one was Myrtle’s bathroom. So now, he tended to go there whenever he needed to talk or when he was stressed. And sure enough, when Harry got there, Draco was leaning over a sink, glancing up in the mirror. Thankfully, he wasn’t crying this time, however.

“You saw the news,” Draco said dryly, not even turning to look at Harry, just watching him in the mirror.

“Yeah,” Harry breathed back.

“So, I suppose you told the Gryffindor table that it was a fake. You have nothing to do with me,” Draco supposed, straightening up and turning to Harry. Harry shook his head.

“I didn’t, I wanted to talk to you first,” Harry said, stepping a little further into the bathroom.

“We’re fucking stupid for getting caught, you know that, right?” Draco said, anger prevalent in his tone.

“Well, yeah I’m not so happy it’s in the newspaper either,” Harry huffed.

“It’s not just that, you know. It’s going to spread. It’s going to get everywhere,” Draco told Harry.

“So?”

Draco blinked and blinked, seemingly caught off guard. He faltered.

“What?” he echoed. Harry swallowed thickly and shrugged.

“So, what if it does?”

Draco paused before shaking his head.

“Potter, you don’t understand. We’re opposites. We’re on completely different sides of the spectrum. We can’t just…” He flailed a hand. “Do this,” he finished off.

“So, what now? You want to pretend nothing ever happened?” Harry questioned. Draco slanted him a look.

“I don’t, listen, I don’t know, okay?” he managed. “Do you honestly think that this will work?”

“Yes, yes, I honestly do,” Harry replied simply. That seemed to only aggravate Draco more.

“You’re an idiot.”

“You’re an arse,” Harry shot back without thinking. Draco firmed his jaw.

“Listen,” Draco began, but Harry stepped closer and stopped him.

“No, you listen. If you want to break this whole thing off, fine. Your choice. But I want you to know that I don’t bloody care what fucking Skeeter writes about. And I don’t care what kind of looks I’ll get in the halls. And I honestly do not care the questions and statements I will get because being able to spend time with you over the last few months has been one of the best things that’s happened to me since after the War and I…” Harry trailed off, shaking his head. 

Draco stood there, sort of in shock, because those words held an awful lot of passion. And Harry sounded very serious. And the way he put things, the way he said them, well, it made Draco want to follow up with them.

Harry finally looked up at him and took a breath.

“So?”

Draco tried not to smile as he stepped forwards.

“Fucking, idiot,” he mumbled, pressing his lips to Harry’s. Harry kissed back, even though he wasn’t exactly sure what the verdict was yet. Though, if Draco kissing him said anything, Harry had a feeling he knew the answer.

Draco pulled away with a softened look in his eye. Harry gave him a little smile and a raised eyebrow.

“You asked me to stay with you and I will. I’m still going to,” Draco told Harry. Harry grinned a bit more.

“You’re such a romantic, remembering things I said two months ago,” Harry joked, nudging Draco. Draco nudged him, but smiled back.

“Shut up,” Draco grumbled as Harry pulled him in for another kiss.

“You know, with that bonding spell we had going on awhile ago, I was really ready to get rid of you but now, now I rather like you,” Harry joked. Draco grinned.

“I guess that’s a good thing then because I rather like you too.”

And in that moment, for some reason, there was a concrete feeling that everything in the future would be at least, on some level, alright.

**Author's Note:**

> please, please, please tell me what you thought!!! maybe it didn't make sense, or maybe it held the answers to the universe!!! either way, comments and kudos and any form of interaction are all so so greatly appreciated. thank you guys so so much for reading, i hope that all of you are doing well <333


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